BUSINESS
CONSTRUCTION
DATA
MANAGEMENT
How data is the foundation
for pile engineering
By Edwin Elmendorp, Kinsmen Group
With COVID-19 ravaging through the world, a
new norm has emerged that affects every corner
of the old way of living. Everyone is adjusting
and surviving, but emerging stronger is not
so easy to tackle or always possible. The construction industry
in general has been slow to innovate for decades, with a
growth in productivity of just one per cent and large risks,
combined with this unprecedented disruption, the time to
lead is now.
Construction is lagging historically
Much research has been done into the productivity and
efficiency of the construction industry both in terms of
economic and environmental impact. Consulting firms like
McKinsey & Company, Accenture and others generally agree
that productivity is very low, risks are high and the impact
on the environment is enormous.1,2 Many innovations have
been recognized and implemented in recent years, but
COVID-19 is throwing the construction industry in another
tailspin. A few changes that make working on a jobsite a tad
more challenging today are social distancing, temperature
checks, required wearing of masks, supply chain disruption,
a decline in commercial activity, more stringent regulation
and the need for cloud-based solutions due to less workers
on the jobsite, among others.3
Adding to these challenges is a combination of developments
that will move the needle once more, such as
increased sustainability requirements, skills scarcity, new
materials, modular construction and rapid digitalization, to
new a few.2 While changing the fundamentals of a company
is more challenging, automating the mundane and utilizing
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